Cody Witte (3:06)

Hi. So this summer, I moved back to New York from Virginia. My mom, she made this decision. She was like, that's it. I'm leaving your dad. We're going back to New York. Whoever wants to come with me can come with me. And at this point, I'm like, yes, we're moving back to New York. It's my chance to hold onto this and grab it. It ended up being me, my mom, and my little brother, Phoenix. This time, we arrived in New York with no place to go. My mom's plan was to live in a shelter. She didn't want to go by anybody because she didn't want to feel obligated to anyone or let someone else take on her problems. So she was determined to go through the shelter. We went through this whole progress to get placed into a shelter. Thank God we got placed into a shelter. We were exhausted, tired. I remember the first time we stepped into the shelter, me and my little brother, we stopped for a second and, like, looked around. It was unusual to us, and we didn't know where the heck we was at. He was 7 at the time, and I was 15 at the time. We looked at each other, and we connected instantly. My mother noticed that me and him were making these ugly face expressions. So she was like, guys, I understand. We'll just have to stick it out. The next morning, we woke up straight to business. We had to meet with a caseworker, and the caseworker told us, in order to stay in a shelter, you have to attend these appointments. We had doctor's appointments, dentist appointments, and meet with our caseworker daily. We did this throughout the whole month of August. Now school is on its way. Nobody knows I'm back, and I'm happy. I'm excited for my first day of school because I was there my freshman year, and I was like a superstar. I was vice president and had everything going for me. And when I left the first time, it just all went downhill. So I was happy to return. I arrived, and everybody's like, cody, Cody, you're back. I'm like, yeah, I'm back. So our first week, me and my little brother, Phoenix. Our first week of school is great, but I start to notice a change in my mother. The weekend comes. She's looking a little depressed and down, moping around. And then she says, I can't do it anymore. We're going back to Virginia. At this point, I'm like, what? In my head, my imagination is running wild. I'm like, no, we cannot go back to Virginia. So I blurt out, I'm not going back with you. And she was like, what? Who do you think you talking to? You're going back with me. I was like, no, I'm not. And she's like, cody, I don't want to hear another word out of you. You're going back. That's it. We're packing our stuff in the morning and get ready to go. I'm not disrespectful to my mother, but at that point, I needed my voice to be heard. So that night, I let my voice be heard. We got into this big argument about me staying or going. I told my mom, do what you have to do. The next morning, we're packing up. It's silence. My little brother is confused. He don't know what's going on between me and my mom. I know my mom is waiting to say something. I know my mother. So she's like. I'm like, mommy, is there anybody I can stay by? Can I stay by your friend, my auntie? And then I blurt out my grandma. And she's like, no, I am not on good terms with your grandmother. So that's out of the picture. I'm like, please, I really want to stay in New York. Why can't I stay by her? And she said, I'm not going to say it again. You're not staying by your grandmother. My grandma and my mother didn't really have this good relationship at the time. And if my grandmother knew that her grandchildren were in a shelter, she would have been ballistic. So a few minutes later, my mom's like, okay, you really want to stay in New York? Call your grandmother out. Call your grandmother up. We planned my runaway. I call my grandma. I'm crying hysterically. And I'm like, grandma, Mommy's going back to Virginia. I don't want to go back. Can I stay with you? And she's like, cody, Cody, calm down. Yes, you can stay with me, but under one condition. I have rules, and you must obey them. I'm like, okay, Grandma, I'll obey your rules. And she's like, okay, good. Be ready by 7:00 so I can come and pick you up. I'm like, all right. The next morning, I help my mom take everything out of the shelter, and it's time for me to go. My grandma and auntie arrive, and she's like, okay, Cody, time to go now. I give my brother a little hug, and he's still looking confused for the past two nights. My mom, it's time to give her a hug. And when I give my mom a hug, she's silent. And when I hugged my mother, as I hugged my mother, she began to cry. And all her emotions poured into me. And I was like, mommy, please don't cry. I didn't want to cry because I don't like seeing my mother cry. So I just rushed my hug, and I was like, okay, bye. I go in the car. I don't look back. My aunt drives around the block twice. I don't understand why she did that. But the second time, I look out through the back window and I see my mom. She's crying, her head is in her hands, and my little brother's patting her back to comfort her.

Audible Representative (9:45)

And.

Cody Witte (9:46)

And at this point in my head, I'm like, I'm sorry, Mommy. So I had to choose between my dream and breaking my mother's heart. I chose my dream because I know New York was the place where I needed to be. And everything that I'm doing now, I hope it's healing my mother's heart. Thank you.

Dan Kennedy (10:14)

Cody Witte is now an arts management major at Purchase College in New York. She's participated with the MOTH since the fall of 2011. She tells us that she believes telling her story can encourage others to tell theirs, too. Our second story this week was told at a MOTH high school story Slam, which is part of the Moth education program. I have a huge soft spot for these high school story slams. Students meet after school with MOTH teachers and faculty advisors to work on their stories. And then we hold story Slam events at their schools where the students get on stage and they're in front of their peers telling their stories. This one that we're going to hear today is by Truly Johnson, and the theme of the show was Risk.

Truly Johnson (11:07)

It was the beginning of freshman year, and even though I was at the same school, I had been in middle school, my best friend from middle school had left. So I didn't really know anyone very well. I mean, kind of. So at lunch, I would basically just walk around the block by myself. Sometimes I'd make Plans with other people, But a lot of times it just wouldn't work out. So I would just walk around the block and think about life. So one day, my humanities class was studying Greek and Roman empire, so we went to the Metropolitan museum of Art to go look at artifacts, like coins and pots and all those things. And we got these little sheets, and we had to check off when we found the objects. We were looking all around for these different objects. So I was walking around by myself. Everyone else was in their little groups of friends, and occasionally I'd run into other people, and they'd be like, oh, hey, Truly, where's this thing? And I'm like, oh, it's that way. And. And then I would sometimes ask other people, but then we just kind of continue on our way. So I was walking around getting all the objects, and then I saw that there was someone else who also didn't really have a group of friends. And, like, she had dark, curly hair, glasses. I'd never really seen her. I mean, I've seen her around, but I didn't know her. And so at some point, I don't even remember exactly how, because it wasn't a big deal at the time. It was probably just one of us asked the other where something was. But we started talking, and we ended up kind of finishing the scavenger hunt together. And so we decided to go to the African art exhibit. So we went, and we were looking at the masks, and we were enjoying it. It was fun. And then we went home at the end of the trip. And. Yeah, then the next day, I was walking around by myself at lunch, like I did. And when I saw. I was standing outside the pizza shop, and I saw through the window, I saw her from yesterday. And I was thinking, can I actually do this? Can I take this risk? Can I go up to her and talk to her again after just this one thing that happened yesterday? And I decided I could. So I went in and I said hi, and I was like, do you want to go to the park? And so we did, and we went. And we were looking at all the trees and the grass, and it was really nice. And we saw these squirrels, and she was trying to take pictures of them, but they kept running off. And we were making jokes or something like they were evil squirrels. And from then on, we went to lunch basically every day that year. And the next time we went on a trip, I found her in a giant crowd of ninth graders, and we walked to our destination together. Thank you.

Dan Kennedy (14:18)

Truly Johnson is a student at the school of the future here in New York City.

Audible Representative (14:26)

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com, the Internet's leading provider of audiobooks with more than 150,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature and featuring audio versions of many New York Times bestsellers. To try Audible free today and get a free audiobook of your choice, go to audible.com themoth also listeners in Oregon.

Dan Kennedy (14:47)

Here'S a quick announcement. The Moth main stage is returning to Portland, Oregon. That's gonna be Monday, December 15th. For tickets and a list of all of our upcoming tour stops, visit themoth.org.

Audible Representative (15:00)

Our podcast host, Dan Kennedy is a writer and performer living in New York and author of the new novel American Spirit. Available now.

Dan Kennedy (15:09)

Thanks to all of you for listening and we hope you have a story worthy week. Podcast Audio production by Paul Ruest at the Argo Studios in New York. The Moth Podcast and the Radio Hour are presented by P prx, the Public Radio Exchange helping make public radio more public@prx.org.